James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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Question 3: To ask the Minister for Health and Children, given the findings of the national report on traumatic brain Injury (details supplied), her views on whether the current system is putting patients' lives at risk; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [6948/09]

Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Progressive Democrats)
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I have received the report in question in recent days. The study, which was led by Professor Jack Phillips, consultant neurosurgeon, involved a national audit of more than 2,000 patients with significant traumatic brain injury. Data were collected and analysed over a two-year period from April 2002 from the neurosurgical centres at Beaumont Hospital and Cork University Hospital. I welcome the findings of the study which will help to guide the approach to strengthening neurosurgical services as well as informing the approach to the development of injury prevention and health promotion strategies. The findings of the report show that the level of care provided to some patients was at times less than optimal. I note that the data used in the study were collected between 2002 and 2004.

The development of services in the area of neurosciences, which comprises neurology, neurophysiology and neurosurgery, has been given a particular policy priority in recent years. Since the data were collected and analysed additional revenue funding of €7 million has been allocated to the Health Service Executive in 2006 and 2007 for the development of neurosciences and a further €850,000 is being allocated this year.

On the capital side Beaumont Hospital has received a grant of €4.9 million for neurosurgery equipment. There has been significant investment in the CT scanning service at Cork. The hospital operates a 24-hour CT scanning service, a PET CT is due to be commissioned in the summer and an existing CT scanner is being upgraded at a cost of €1.4 million. In addition, €1.2 million has been spent on equipping and refurbishing the intravascular aneurysm-coiling suite which has now started providing a procedure for treating aneurysms that was previously available only in Beaumont Hospital.

James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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We have only ten neurosurgeons, which is the lowest in Europe. I was in Belfast two days ago and was told that Northern Ireland had 14 with a population one third of ours. That may or may not be accurate.

I have a personal knowledge of this in that a friend and colleague of mine with a brain tumour waited four weeks to get into Beaumont Hospital. I had a patient from Wexford who last year was told to arrive at Beaumont on a specific day because she had a recurrence of her symptoms following brain tumour removal three years earlier and it quite obviously had returned. She got her husband to take three weeks off work to mind their seven children and the night before she was due to go to the hospital she was advised that no bed was available. That is the reality for people. The consultant to whom I spoke at that time said he is faced with having to leave a patient with a brain tumour at home because somebody else who is unconscious must be treated as an absolute emergency.

We are streets behind and the investment has not been made. I was going to confine my comments to neurosurgery, but the Minister mentioned neurology. I have a comparative list of neurologists per head of population that includes Australia, Belgium, Finland, France, Britain and Ireland. We used to have one per 300,000. We now have one per 210,000. The next worst is the UK with one per 164,000. France has one per 39,000. We have not been employing the consultants. Of the 245 consultant posts approved since 2008, of which only 115 are new posts and 154 have been advertised, how many are for consultant neurosurgeons? When will the HSE strategic review of neurology and clinical neurophysiology completed in 2007 be published?

Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Progressive Democrats)
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I understand two consultants have been recruited at the moment. I have seen the publicity surrounding the issue of neurology. I have equally seen the correspondence from Professor Drumm. If we want to talk about the number of neurologists we have, we must also consider the number of junior doctors we have. We have an unprecedented number of non-consultant hospital doctors in neurology compared with anywhere else in the world. We also need to consider the performance in the different hospitals. Professor Drumm recently showed me that in some hospitals, consultants in neurology were seeing 80 or 90 new patients a month and in others it was down to 20 to 22. I will send the Deputy a copy of the correspondence which will inform him.

We have more than 7,000 hospital doctors. By any standard that is a large number. The challenge for us is to switch it from non-consultant doctors to consultants. We are awaiting a new contract with very different employment terms, which I am happy to say is virtually finalised and over the coming days we will be able to make final decisions in that regard. It will fundamentally change the way consultants work and make it much easier for us to make it affordable to get new consultants because we will be able to reduce the dependency on non-consultant hospital doctors, of which we currently have 4,900. I believe a subsequent question deals with the matter.

Regarding surgery, my brief informs me that we have 13. I do not know how many there are in Northern Ireland. Since Professor Phillips completed his study, the facility in Cork only commenced in 2003, which has resulted in a major improvement in the service in Cork. I do not take away from the fact that there are still pressure points. I accept that.

James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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If we were being honest we would both accept that there is a major deficit. It might be too kind to call it a pressure point. When will the new neurosurgeons take up their posts? Will it be this year and if so on what date? As we both know, after approving a post, recruiting can take anything up to 18 months.

Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Progressive Democrats)
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I am not in a position to tell the Deputy when they will take up their posts. I will see whether I can get that information. The data I have suggest there are ten in Beaumont and three in Cork University Hospital. I will see whether I can confirm that.